1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a device for the feeding of individual sheets to a plate of an office machine, in particular of a matrix printer, employing several storage bins, of which storage bins one is coordinated to a separating roller rotatably supported at a spatially fixed axle, and which separating roller is connected via a gear train to a drive motor.
2. Brief Description of the Background of the Invention Including Prior Art
Such devices for the feeding of individual sheets into the chute of a plate or of a differently formed print-support surface require in many cases only one storage bin and only one receiver or discharge bin. Because of the distance of several storage bins and because of the separating rollers required in each case, the solutions of known devices cannot be employed in the instant case.
It is known from German Patent DE-PS 2,856,950 to provide in each case one separating roller for several storage bins. Such a device is deemed necessary in order to safely and reliably achieve the separation and individualization of the sheets or, respectively, of the forms. The construction of such a separating roller axle with several individual separating rollers at each storage bin is however also necessary in order to maintain the stack of sheets in a slightly inclined position, in which a springing support surface presses the remaining sheet stack in each case into the separation position against the separating rollers. Such a slightly inclined disposition of the sheet stack is in addition advantageous from ergonomic points of view, since the operating personnel requires a corresponding accessibility or, respectively, overview over the available sheet stack.
In addition, a separating device for two oppositely disposed storage bins is known from United Kingdom Patent Application 2,022,059. One single separating roller is disposed between the two storage bins and can be tilted in the two separating positions. This system however is associated with the disadvantage that the position of the separating roller has to be determined exactly after each tilting process because otherwise the contact pressure force of the springing support surface, on which the sheet stack rests, is changed and thus the separating force.